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Science & Technology
The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster
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<blockquote data-quote="Opmmur" data-source="post: 60869" data-attributes="member: 13"><p><span style="font-size: 22px"><strong>Fukushima fish still contaminated from nuclear accident</strong></span></p><p> </p><p><img src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/51976000/jpg/_51976163_jonathan-amos.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> By Jonathan Amos Science correspondent, BBC News</p><p> </p><p><img src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/63715000/jpg/_63715761_fish2.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> <span style="font-size: 15px">The Japanese are among the world's highest per capita consumers of seafood</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 15px"><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19980614#story_continues_1" target="_blank">Continue reading the main story</a></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 15px"><strong>Related Stories</strong></span></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="font-size: 15px"><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18239107" target="_blank">US tuna show Fukushima pollution</a></span></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="font-size: 15px"><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17124909" target="_blank">Cruise finds Fukushima pollution</a></span></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><span style="font-size: 15px"><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19245818" target="_blank">Fukushima butterflies 'abnormal'</a></span></li> </ul><p><span style="font-size: 15px">Levels of radioactive contamination in fish caught off the east coast of Japan remain raised, official data shows.</span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 15px">It is a sign that the Dai-ichi power plant continues to be a source of pollution more than a year after the nuclear accident.</span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 15px">About 40% of fish caught close to Fukushima itself are regarded as unfit for humans under Japanese regulations.</span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 15px">The respected US marine chemist Ken Buesseler has <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/content/338/6106/480.summary?sid=96bdcb46-e2b1-4f8f-b099-7107f530a949" target="_blank">reviewed the data in this week's Science journal</a>.</span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 15px">He says there are probably two sources of lingering contamination.</span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 15px">"There is the on-going leakage into the ocean of polluted ground water from under Fukushima, and there is the contamination that's already in the sediments just offshore," he told BBC News.</span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 15px"><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19980614#story_continues_2" target="_blank">Continue reading the main story</a></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 15px"><strong>“Start Quote</strong></span></p><p> </p><p style="margin-left: 20px"><span style="font-size: 15px">With these results it's hard to predict for how long some fisheries might have to be closed”</span></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p><p><span style="font-size: 15px">Prof Ken Buesseler WHOI</span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 15px">"It all points to this issue being long-term and one that will need monitoring for decades into the future."</span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 15px">Prof Buesseler is affiliated to the US Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 15px">His evaluation covers a year's worth of data gathered by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF).</span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 15px">Its monthly records detail the levels of radioactive caesium found in fish and other seafood products from shortly after the March 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami - the double disaster that triggered the Fukushima crisis.</span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 15px">The caesium-134 and 137 isotopes can be traced directly to releases from the crippled power station.</span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 15px">MAFF uses the information to decide whether certain fisheries along five east-coast prefectures, including Fukushima, should be opened or closed (it is not a measure of contamination in actual market fish).</span></p><p> </p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 15px"><img src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/63715000/jpg/_63715496_63715495.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 15px">The data is used to decide when fisheries should be opened or closed</span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 15px">The caesium does not normally stay in the tissues of saltwater fish for very long; a few percent per day on average should flow back into the ocean water. So, the fact that these animals continue to display elevated contamination strongly suggests the pollution source has not yet been completely shut off.</span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 15px">He notes that although caesium levels in any fish type and on any day can be highly variable, it is the bottom-dwelling species off Fukushima that consistently show the highest caesium counts.</span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 15px">For the WHOI researcher, this points to the seafloor being a major reservoir for the caesium pollution.</span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 15px">"It looks to me like the bottom fish, the fish that are eating, you know, crabs and shellfish, the kinds of things that are particle feeders - they seem to be increasing their accumulation of the caesium isotopes because of their habitat on the seafloor," he explained.</span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 15px">Prof Buesseler stresses however that the vast majority of fish caught off the northeast coast of Japan are fit for human consumption.</span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 15px">And while the 40% figure for unsafe catch in the Fukushima prefecture may sound alarming, the bald number is slightly misleading.</span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 15px">Last April, the Japanese authorities tried to instil greater market confidence by lowering the maximum permitted concentration of radioactivity in fish and fish products from 500 becquerels per kilogram of wet weight to 100 Bq/kg wet.</span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 15px">This tightening of the threshold immediately re-classified fish previously deemed fit as unfit, even though their actual contamination count had not changed.</span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 15px">It is also worth comparing the Japanese limit with international standards. In the US, for example, the threshold is set at 1,200 Bq/kg wet - significantly more lenient than even the pre-April Japanese requirement.</span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 15px">And Prof Buesseler makes the point that some naturally occurring radionuclides, such as potassium-40, appear in fish at similar or even higher levels than the radioactive caesium.</span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 15px">Nonetheless, the contamination question is a pertinent one in the Asian nation simply because its people consume far more fish per head than in most other countries.</span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 15px">"At one level, there shouldn't be any surprises here but on another, people need to come to grips with the fact that for some species and for some areas this is going to be a long-term issue; and with these results it's hard to predict for how long some fisheries might have to be closed," said the WHOI scientist.</span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 15px">Prof Buesseler, with Japanese colleagues, is organising a scientific symposium in Tokyo on 12/13 November to present the latest thinking on Fukushima and its impacts on the ocean.</span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 15px">The information will then be shared with the public in a free colloquium on 14 November.</span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 15px"><a href="mailto:Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk">Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk</a> and follow me on Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/#%21/BBCAmos" target="_blank">@BBCAmos</a></span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Opmmur, post: 60869, member: 13"] [SIZE=6][B]Fukushima fish still contaminated from nuclear accident[/B][/SIZE] [IMG]http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/51976000/jpg/_51976163_jonathan-amos.jpg[/IMG] By Jonathan Amos Science correspondent, BBC News [IMG]http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/63715000/jpg/_63715761_fish2.jpg[/IMG] [SIZE=4]The Japanese are among the world's highest per capita consumers of seafood[/SIZE] [SIZE=4][URL='http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19980614#story_continues_1']Continue reading the main story[/URL][/SIZE] [SIZE=4][B]Related Stories[/B][/SIZE] [LIST] [*][SIZE=4][URL='http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18239107']US tuna show Fukushima pollution[/URL][/SIZE] [*][SIZE=4][URL='http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17124909']Cruise finds Fukushima pollution[/URL][/SIZE] [*][SIZE=4][URL='http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19245818']Fukushima butterflies 'abnormal'[/URL][/SIZE] [/LIST] [SIZE=4]Levels of radioactive contamination in fish caught off the east coast of Japan remain raised, official data shows.[/SIZE] [SIZE=4]It is a sign that the Dai-ichi power plant continues to be a source of pollution more than a year after the nuclear accident.[/SIZE] [SIZE=4]About 40% of fish caught close to Fukushima itself are regarded as unfit for humans under Japanese regulations.[/SIZE] [SIZE=4]The respected US marine chemist Ken Buesseler has [URL='http://www.sciencemag.org/content/338/6106/480.summary?sid=96bdcb46-e2b1-4f8f-b099-7107f530a949']reviewed the data in this week's Science journal[/URL].[/SIZE] [SIZE=4]He says there are probably two sources of lingering contamination.[/SIZE] [SIZE=4]"There is the on-going leakage into the ocean of polluted ground water from under Fukushima, and there is the contamination that's already in the sediments just offshore," he told BBC News.[/SIZE] [SIZE=4][URL='http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19980614#story_continues_2']Continue reading the main story[/URL][/SIZE] [SIZE=4][B]“Start Quote[/B][/SIZE] [INDENT=1][SIZE=4]With these results it's hard to predict for how long some fisheries might have to be closed”[/SIZE][/INDENT] [INDENT=1] [/INDENT] [SIZE=4]Prof Ken Buesseler WHOI[/SIZE] [SIZE=4]"It all points to this issue being long-term and one that will need monitoring for decades into the future."[/SIZE] [SIZE=4]Prof Buesseler is affiliated to the US Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).[/SIZE] [SIZE=4]His evaluation covers a year's worth of data gathered by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF).[/SIZE] [SIZE=4]Its monthly records detail the levels of radioactive caesium found in fish and other seafood products from shortly after the March 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami - the double disaster that triggered the Fukushima crisis.[/SIZE] [SIZE=4]The caesium-134 and 137 isotopes can be traced directly to releases from the crippled power station.[/SIZE] [SIZE=4]MAFF uses the information to decide whether certain fisheries along five east-coast prefectures, including Fukushima, should be opened or closed (it is not a measure of contamination in actual market fish).[/SIZE] [SIZE=4][IMG]http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/63715000/jpg/_63715496_63715495.jpg[/IMG][/SIZE] [SIZE=4]The data is used to decide when fisheries should be opened or closed[/SIZE] [SIZE=4]The caesium does not normally stay in the tissues of saltwater fish for very long; a few percent per day on average should flow back into the ocean water. So, the fact that these animals continue to display elevated contamination strongly suggests the pollution source has not yet been completely shut off.[/SIZE] [SIZE=4]He notes that although caesium levels in any fish type and on any day can be highly variable, it is the bottom-dwelling species off Fukushima that consistently show the highest caesium counts.[/SIZE] [SIZE=4]For the WHOI researcher, this points to the seafloor being a major reservoir for the caesium pollution.[/SIZE] [SIZE=4]"It looks to me like the bottom fish, the fish that are eating, you know, crabs and shellfish, the kinds of things that are particle feeders - they seem to be increasing their accumulation of the caesium isotopes because of their habitat on the seafloor," he explained.[/SIZE] [SIZE=4]Prof Buesseler stresses however that the vast majority of fish caught off the northeast coast of Japan are fit for human consumption.[/SIZE] [SIZE=4]And while the 40% figure for unsafe catch in the Fukushima prefecture may sound alarming, the bald number is slightly misleading.[/SIZE] [SIZE=4]Last April, the Japanese authorities tried to instil greater market confidence by lowering the maximum permitted concentration of radioactivity in fish and fish products from 500 becquerels per kilogram of wet weight to 100 Bq/kg wet.[/SIZE] [SIZE=4]This tightening of the threshold immediately re-classified fish previously deemed fit as unfit, even though their actual contamination count had not changed.[/SIZE] [SIZE=4]It is also worth comparing the Japanese limit with international standards. In the US, for example, the threshold is set at 1,200 Bq/kg wet - significantly more lenient than even the pre-April Japanese requirement.[/SIZE] [SIZE=4]And Prof Buesseler makes the point that some naturally occurring radionuclides, such as potassium-40, appear in fish at similar or even higher levels than the radioactive caesium.[/SIZE] [SIZE=4]Nonetheless, the contamination question is a pertinent one in the Asian nation simply because its people consume far more fish per head than in most other countries.[/SIZE] [SIZE=4]"At one level, there shouldn't be any surprises here but on another, people need to come to grips with the fact that for some species and for some areas this is going to be a long-term issue; and with these results it's hard to predict for how long some fisheries might have to be closed," said the WHOI scientist.[/SIZE] [SIZE=4]Prof Buesseler, with Japanese colleagues, is organising a scientific symposium in Tokyo on 12/13 November to present the latest thinking on Fukushima and its impacts on the ocean.[/SIZE] [SIZE=4]The information will then be shared with the public in a free colloquium on 14 November.[/SIZE] [SIZE=4][EMAIL]Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk[/EMAIL] and follow me on Twitter: [URL='https://twitter.com/#%21/BBCAmos']@BBCAmos[/URL][/SIZE] [/QUOTE]
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